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	Gender Inequality and Food Insecurity by CARE International, agencies   Sep. 2023   In 2022, over 735 million people in the world were hungry. Relative improvements after the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic are masking rapidly growing inequality. There are 84.2 million more women and girls than men and boys facing food insecurity.   The gender food gap grew in many regions, including most of Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East North America, and Europe.   CARE’s analysis of data across 113 countries suggests that improving GDP is not enough. The most recent data shows that in situations with high inequality, economic growth can lead to higher food insecurity, especially since COVID-19. In 57 countries, GDP is growing and food insecurity is rising. As gender and income inequality rise, so does hunger.   The report released by CARE examines hunger around the world through the lens of global inequality. Among its key findings – that gender inequality is both a factor exacerbating the food crisis and that addressing it is a foundational solution to improving global food security.   The report also found that economic development without investments in gender does not equate to improved food security. Instead, when an economy grows without improvements in equality, hunger increases. In fact, in places with high inequality, the faster GDP grows, the faster food insecurity rises.   “CARE’s analysis of data across 113 countries suggests that improving GDP is not enough to solve the global food crisis unless we can also address the rising inequality crisis—especially gender inequality. In addition to the disproportionate impact of food insecurity on women and girls, there is a substantial body of research showing that advancing gender equality can enhance food security,” said Emily Janoch from CARE.   In 2022, more than 735 million people in the world were hungry. That’s 1 in 11 people worldwide, and 121 million more people hungry than before the COVID-19 crisis. Moreover, the impacts of the conflict in Ukraine, climate change, and skyrocketing food and fuel prices are continuing to impact food security around the world.   Rapidly growing inequality —especially in Africa and the Middle East where hunger and food insecurity grew. In sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 20% of people are food insecure, compared to a global average of 9.2%.   From the perspective of gender, there are 84.2 million more women and girls than men and boys facing food insecurity. While the 2022 gender food gap narrowed in some regions that had severe COVID shocks in 2021—like Asia and South America, it grew in most the rest of the world, including large parts of Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. This was also true for North America, and Europe.   The report also revealed that in 57 countries, GDP, and food insecurity both grew since the pandemic, challenging assumptions arounds approaches that aim to solve the hunger crisis exclusively through an economic and supply chain focus, versus an approach focused on equality according to Janoch.   “In many cases, GDP growth is concentrating wealth for the richest people. When wealth and income are not available to people who are facing food insecurity, or who are right on the cusp of it, especially women, economic growth stops being a tool to address hunger and food insecurity,” said Janoch.   * Growth Is Not Enough: Solving the Global Hunger Crisis Requires Investments in Gender Equality report can be accessed here.   http://www.care.org/news-and-stories/resources/growth-is-not-enough/ http://www.care.org/news-and-stories/resources/the-gender-food-gap-2023 http://www.care-international.org/news/breaking-barriers-new-care-study-highlights-intersection-climate-inequality-and-hunger http://www.care.org/news-and-stories/resources/starving-for-equality http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/malnutrition-mothers-soars-25-cent-crisis-hit-countries-putting-women-and-newborn http://unfoundation.org/blog/post/hungrier-than-ever-generations-of-undernourished-and-overlooked-mothers-women-and-girls/ http://www.unicef.org/reports/undernourished-overlooked-nutrition-crisis Visit the related web page
	Mauritania: Despite progress, women and girls’ lives still being sacrificed by Dorothy Estrada Tanck, Meskerem Geset Techane UN Working Group on discrimination against women and girls   Oct. 2023   Mauritania has made significant efforts to empower women and girls by increasing the electoral gender quota and legislation prohibiting harmful practices such as child marriage and female genital mutilation, but gaps remain and continue to hamper progress, UN experts warned today.   “Despite a strong institutional framework and political will for advancing gender equality, patriarchal oppression coupled with the socio-economic constraints of the country hold women and girls back in Mauritanian society,” said the UN Working Group on discrimination against women and girls in a statement at the end of a 12-day visit to the country.   “Gender-based discrimination is often denied or not properly acknowledged and understood in the country. Misconceptions must be dispelled to achieve transformative progress,” the experts said. They called on the media to fulfil their key role as catalyst of a healthy democratic debate and amplify a positive narrative around gender equality.   The experts noted that discriminatory expectations on the appropriate role of women and girls lead to harmful practices, hindering them from participating equally in all aspects of society, including in political and economic life. Although electoral quotas were introduced in 2006, women continue to be excluded in political decision-making, occupying only a small proportion of electoral and appointed offices at regional and municipal levels.   “Mauritania has shown resolute commitment towards improving education and economic opportunities for women and girls,” the experts said. Nonetheless, girls’ school drop-out rates due to child marriages (39%) and teenage pregnancies (18%) represent the main obstacle to their empowerment. Women’s participation in the labour force remains disproportionately low, mainly concentrated in the informal sector. They also face significant barriers in land and property ownership, entrepreneurship, and access to credit.   “The country has one of the highest mortality rates in the world with teenage pregnancies, lack of birth spacing, female genital mutilation and lack of ante-natal care as the main reasons for this alarming situation,” the Working Group said.   The experts said the lived realities of women and girls greatly vary depending on their ethnic background and geographic location, with those living in rural areas experiencing even more acute poverty, limited access to healthcare and education, and higher rates of female genital mutilation (FGM), child marriage and polygamy.   “Rural women, migrant and refugee women, women victims/survivors of slavery, and women deprived of liberty continue to face intersecting forms of discrimination and rights violations,” they said.   During the visit, the Working Group was alarmed by outrageous accounts of gender-based violence, in the family and the community, including a high prevalence of rape against young girls, with the impossibility to terminate a pregnancy, even in such cases of crimes amounting to torture.   “Societal taboos that silence survivors from reporting gender-based violence must be combatted and justice sector professionals must stop the appalling pattern of blaming and re-victimising survivors, granting impunity to perpetrators,” the experts said.   “The adoption of a comprehensive law on prevention, protection and response with respect to gender-based violence is of paramount importance,” they said.   The Working Group noted that the implementation of existing laws and policies was poor and not backed by resourced institutions and strategies. They called for the prioritisation of gender-responsive budgeting throughout all public sectors.   “Mauritania will not be able to achieve sustainable development without ensuring genuine and equal participation of women and girls, and the full realisation of their rights in all spheres of their lives. Change must start from within the family and culture,” they said.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/10/mauritania-despite-progress-women-and-girls-lives-still-being-sacrificed-say http://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/wg-women-and-girls Visit the related web page
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